King Purple? Brown Suede Shoes? Colours In Songs Quiz

Answer: Pink Anderson

The inimitable Syd Barrett is credited with coming up with the name, although it appears he wasn't actually a fan of the guitarists himself, in fact he might not have even heard them. One rumour has him seeing their names on the sleeve notes of an album by another artist and putting the names together in his usual playful way made sense.

"Pink" Anderson was from South Carolina and toured as an entertainer with a Native American medicine show. He was recorded numerous times, mostly by field collectors. However, he did get involved in the 1960s blues revival and recorded an album of his own. He died in 1974.

Floyd Council was from North Carolina in 1911. He recorded with Blind Boy Fuller in the 1930s. He died in 1976.

Answer: The Stranglers

The Stranglers tend to get lumped in with the punk genre, but in fact what makes them so interesting is that they don't fit neatly anywhere. They formed in 1974 and it is the gruff vocals and nasty, sneering lyrics that set them apart from the stadium rock of the time.

Their debut, "Rattus Norvegicus" (1977) is a classic slice of sophisticated punk.

"La Folie" (1981) heralded "Golden Brown", probably their best known song. The band have always denied it is about heroin, but the rumour that it is has augmented their reputation as being cheeky upstarts in the pop world.

The band are still going (in 2011, and despite drummer Jet Black being an old codger (he was born in 1938), they still kick out the jams.

Answer: Pink

Nick Drake was a multi-talented singer-songwriter whose talent has only posthumously been recognized by more than the cognoscenti. Unfortunately, his fragility, which is what makes him such a wonderful artist, is what made his life such a misery, and depression led to the prescription drugs he overdosed on, no doubt intentionally.

He was lucky enough to work with top quality musicians such as Richard Thompson and Danny Thompson on his debut "Five Leaves Left" (1968). He then moved to London, recorded a session for the legendary Radio One DJ John Peel, and recorded the brilliant "Bryter Layter". He performed live but wasn't received well and was clearly out of sorts on stage.

He then came up with "Pink Moon" which should have been his breakthrough, but the harsh world of the recording industry and its disinterest in this reclusive genius took their toll on Drake.

Answer: Rush

"Red Barchetta" was on Rush's eighth studio album, "Moving Pictures". It was a breakthrough for the band commercially, although many hardcore fans see it as the end of their golden era as a prog rock band. It is certainly more radio friendly, not only in terms of sound but also song length, than some of their previous releases. However, it does still have typically Rush-like obscure references and Geddy Lee's wild high-pitched vocals.

Van Halen released "Fair Warning" in 1981. It is not one of their best-selling albums, but is one of my favourites.

Finnish band Hanoi Rocks released their debut, "Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes" in 1981. Despite being slammed by the band, it's a fan's favourite.

Answer: Black Oak Arkansas

Black Oak Arkansas debuted with an eponymous album in 1971. Although they aren't mentioned much these days, they were extremely prolific in their heyday. They toured extensively and got some pretty big gigs, but never really broke into the mainstream rock consciousness.

They became "Black Oak" in 1977 and Jim Dandy (real name James Mangrum) has carried on touring and recording sporadically with various line-ups of the band. His real legacy is his vocal phrasing that was copied by Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses, and his whole stage performance which had a huge influence on many a spandex-clad hair '80s metal front-man. He is also known for playing a washboard, which didn't catch on.

Killdozer did a cracking version of "Hot and Nasty" on their album "Uncompromising War On Art Under The Dictatorship Of The Proletariat".

Answer: Black Metal

Varg Vikernes (aka Count Grishnackh) started Burzum in 1991 and swiftly rose to the apex of the rather incestuous Norwegian black metal scene, releasing a plethora of quality black metal and playing bass on Mayhem's classic album, "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas".

He was sent to prison in the widely covered case of murder and arson, but due to lax Norwegian prison rules was able to carry on recording and releasing albums, albeit electronic stuff. It had lost none of his dark, brooding and almost existential bleakness.

He was released in 2009 and has carried on releasing material which stylistically fits with both periods.

Answer: Green

"The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" was written by Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green and came out in 1970.

What on earth a green manalishi is, nobody seems to be able to say. It's blatantly something to do with drugs, and Green was dabbling (to put it mildly) with LSD at the time, but he claims it's not about drugs as such, but rather a green dog that visited him in a dream and which symbolized money and its evils. Following the dream Green couldn't get Robert Johnson's "Hellhound On My Tail" out of his head (so to speak).

Judas Priest's version soon became a standard of their live set and is still strongly associated with the band. Other heavy metal bands have covered the song, but are essentially covering Priest, not Fleetwood Mac.

Answer: The Black Keys

Ohio band The Black Keys are Dan Auerbach (guitar and vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums) and the debut album came out in 2002. Most of their stuff is pretty lo-fi, in particular the early stuff, but it has still managed to garner praise from critics, and sales too.

By the mid-2000s their stuff was being picked for films and commercials, boosting their profile enough for them to get on the bill with huge acts like Pearl Jam and Radiohead.

By the late 2000s the band had worked with all and sundry, and the side projects began. Auerrbach released a solo album, and drummer Carney formed a band called Drummer.

Answer: Pink Flag

Wire's debut is an ahead-of-its-time, abrasive and at times minimalist chunk of noisy punk which proved highly influential on the post punk genre. They later became more avant-garde and experimented with synthesizers and effects over complicated song structures that are rough going at times, but ultimately rewarding.

Their influence has been far reaching, with indie rock bands like My Bloody Valentine clearly having listened to them, lo-fi scene band Guided By Voices citing them as a major influence. American hardcore bands such as Minor Threat have also covered Wire songs, as have superstars R.E.M.

Answer: Silver

"Silver Machine" first came out in 1972 and was a UK hit for Hawkwind. It's since been re-released many times and continues to be the band's most well-known song. It's a really simple tune and doesn't really reflect the band's eclecticism, but is still a firm favourite amongst the fans. Lead vocals were handled by Lemmy, later of heavy metal giants Motorhead despite Robert Calvert being the lead singer in the band at the time, and actually penning the lyrics.

There have been many cover versions of "Silver Machine" by artists as diverse as James Last, Alien Sex Fiend, Sex Pistols and Jarvis Cocker.

My personal favourite covers are by The Electro Hippies, and Hugo Strasser and His Orchestra.

Answer: White Zombie

In the film "White Zombie" (1932) Béla Lugosi played Murder Legendre, an evil voodoo master. It's widely regarded as the first feature length zombie film. The acting is a bit stiff, apart from the majestic Mr Lugosi, but it's got something really weird going on.

Heavy metal band White Zombie also had something weird going on, as they started out as a noise/ post punk band, but developed into a fully-fledged metal band. They started out around 1985, but didn't really make any waves until about 1989. Their obsession with horror films was obvious on their debut for Caroline Records, "Make Them Die Slowly", American title of Italian horror film "Cannibal Ferox".

They managed a fair amount of fame, even brushing with mainstream success, but an unstable line-up led to them splitting up in 1998.

They've gone off in various directions, leader Rob Zombie being the most prolific, in both music and film directing. His film credits include the excellent "House of 1000 Corpses" and the not so good remake of "Halloween".

Answer: Yellow Raven

"Yellow Raven" is the last track on the Scorpions' fourth album, "Virgin Killer" (1976). It was written by Uli Jon Roth and shows his obsession with Jimi Hendrix in the guitar sound, sounding a bit like "Little Wing". The lyrics are typically Rothian hippie stuff, but when Klaus Meine is singing, who cares what it's all about?

Unfortunately, the album is notorious for its sleeve which might not have caused too much uproar at the time, but has caused a lot of hassle since, highlighting the gap between what was acceptable in 1970s Germany, and what's inappropriate in early 21st-century Britain. The title track is actually about loss of innocence and growing up and time is the virgin killer.

Answer: Green Hell

"Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood" was Glenn Danzig's last album with the band before forming Samhain, and then Danzig. "Green Hell" was one of the fastest Misfits songs, which might be what attracted thrash band Metallica to cover it along with "Last Caress" in 1987 for their "The $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited".

Metallica can claim credit for a renewed interest in the Misfits in the late 1980s that continues to this day, through their covers and donning of Misfits t-shirts.

The Misfits have always been huge on the American punk scene, and their early releases have long been much sought after items by record collectors.
The band still tour and record these days, although many fans see Glenn Danzig's leaving the band as the end of the genuine article.

Answer: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band on "Trout Mask Replica"

"Trout Mask Replica" is definitely the album Captain Beefheart will always be remembered for and it stands as a benchmark of left-field music. That it is so popular is something of an enigma as some of it is really hard listening, and much less experimental pieces have been shunned by the public.

It was released on Frank Zappa's (a childhood friend of Beefheart's) Straight Records in 1969.

Stories of goings-on during the recording of the album have also added to its cult status. The band all lived together and rehearsed the songs tirelessly. Beefheart has also admitted that he was playing with them psychologically and put them through sleep deprivation, food deprivation, beratings followed by praise, and other such grueling torment to create his masterpiece.

Criminally ignored California band Claw Hammer blatantly took their name from the track in question.

Answer: Green Door

"The Green Door" was written by Bob Davie. Davie conducted the orchestra on Jim Lowe's version which was a huge hit in 1956. Marvin Moore wrote the mysterious lyrics, about which there is a lot of contention to what they mean. Is it a drinking den, a gay club, a union card, a demon's lair or simply where Christopher Robin lives?

The Cramps' version is off their excellent "Psychedelic Jungle" album.

Shakin' Stevens, who is well-known to Brits but I daresay less so to others, had a number 1 hit with the song in 1981 and first introduced me to this pop perennial. It's been done by heaps of other artists.